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I came across this recipe called Lentil Enchilada Pasta in the first Forks over Knives Bookazine from 2017. I have made it many times and have tweaked it just a bit to make it my own, and to suit my family. I have dropped the “enchilada” from the recipe name because at my house it was bringing up totally different ideals and somehow they wanted it wrapped in a corn tortilla and that just wasn’t happening. I use 100% whole grain penne pasta, my local grocery “Kroger” brand in the brown box. It comes in a 16 ounce box so I have adjusted the recipe to account for the change from the original 12 ounce box called for in the forks over knives bookazine. Four cups of lentils cooked is approximately 2 cups of dry lentils. This is one of those recipes that gives you that home cooking feeling, no frills, just fills everyone up. The bonus is I typically have left overs to pack for lunch the next day. Enjoy this healthy dinner and remember to ❤️ur❤️.

I must admit that before starting down this healthy path I think I maybe had purchased lentils once and used them in a soup recipe. I certainly would never have walked into a restaurant and been excited seeing lentil soup on the menu. But, my how times have changed. Did you know that there is more than one types of lentils and they each have a subtlety different flavor, I bet you thought they were all the same. Brown lentils are what is commonly sold in the store in a package that states simply, lentils. Red, brown and green lentils are what I use because they don’t end up mushy and are great for most of the dishes I make. Maybe my future holds some experimenting with black, red, yellow etc. but for now I’m happy with red, brown and green.

I discovered a quick and easy trick for making lentils that doesn’t require you to watch them to see if they are boiling or set a timer or anything, my rice cooker! As all rice cookers are slightly different I’ll tell you what works for mine and then you may need to play around with it a bit. I haven’t tried the yellow or black lentils in my rice cooker, actually I haven’t tried them at home at all. It is my understanding from reading about them that the yellow and black can become mushy so I would guess putting them in the rice cooker may not turn out so well. After rinsing brown, green or red lentils, I pop them in my rice cooker and add twice the amount of water, close the top and push the white rice button, and walk away. So for example if I use 1 cup of lentils dried I add 2 cups of water with them in the rice cooker. They will double at least, in size so if you have a small rice cooker be careful not to overload it.

A half cup of dried lentils yields a little more than one cup of cooked lentils. Better to have too much than too little is my motto, so you will tend to find some extra cooked lentils in my fridge at all times. I’m not sure how long they last once they are cooked because I use them within the week. I toss them on salads, on top of pizzas, in budda bowls, not to mention all the tasty recipes they go in, lentil pasta and lentil sloppy Joes, lentil loaf.

The best thing about lentils is how healthy they are for us. They are exceptionally nutrient dense, rich in protein, fiber, calcium, iron and B vitamins. One cup of lentils contains 18 grams of protein, which makes them a perfect chunk of my daily 48 grams of protein. Lentils are little lens shaped legumes and lenses were named after lentils…lens is lentil in latin. Lentils are one of the oldest legumes, dating back to Ancient Greece. Enjoy your healthy lentils! ❤️ur❤️

This recipe is a great way to use up any extra quinoa you may have on hand. If you are making fresh quinoa for this recipe please refer to my previous post and try your hand at making quinoa in your rice cooker. Remember quinoa is gluten-free and packed with protein! I usually have a big bag of regular quinoa from Costco in my pantry. I also have small bags of multi colored quinoa that have found at my local Kroger grocery store. Tabbouleh is traditionally a vegetarian salad made of mostly finely chopped, parsley with tomatoes, mint, onion, bulgur, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. This as you will see is an adaptation of the traditional, absolutely oil free. I am sure there are numerous ways you can play with this recipe and make it your own. For now this is what our family enjoys, however each time I think we tweak it just a little, so tweak away. I serve this cold as a side salad.

Directions

If you are using uncooked quinoa, combine the quinoa with the water in a pan and bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit covered for 5 min., fluff with a fork and refrigerate until chilled, approximately 2 hours.

I have been using a rice cookers for several years and I am currently on my second one. The one I have has two setting, one for white rice and one for brown rice. I have consistently cooked either brown or white rice and nothing else, it does have a steaming basket but I have yet to try it. A few weeks ago my son purchased a rice cooker for his apartment and read the instruction book, something I had neglected to do since mine only had two buttons and I think I can tell if its brown or white rice. He informed me that his rice cooker could also cook quinoa and had a button specifically for that purpose. I curiously went to my stash of instruction manuals and fished out the one for my rice cooker, but there was no mention of quinoa or any other grains that could be cooked in there. Having burned quinoa on my stove top before I was anxious to give my rice cooker a try. Using a 2/1 ratio, 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa, I clicked the white rice button and waited.

Quinoa is a seed related to the beet and chard families that looks and tastes like a grain but packs as much protein as meat. It is versatile and can go almost anywhere a grain can go. It can replace rice in a stir-fry or couscous in a salad. You can even eat it in the morning instead of oatmeal. Quinoa is gluten free and easy to digest. Quinoa is native to Andean cultures and the Incas referred to is as “mother of all grains”.

The light on my rice cooker clicked from red to green indicating that it was finished. Tentatively opening the lid I found to my delight that it was fluffy and steamy, and a success. No longer will I accidentally burn quinoa to the bottom of my pans, my rice cooker has a new purpose.

We recently discovered a gem in our little Fort called Taj Mahal Indian restaurant. One of our favorite restaurants when we lived in Shanghai was an Indian restaurant and Taj Mahal brought back memories of those times. While it doesn’t sit next to the ever exciting pearl market of Hangqiao there is a small grocery next door called Taj Food and Gifts. This small grocery has been a fabulous find. We have enjoyed the Indian whole food plant based items in the restaurant and decided to experiment and try some Indian recipes at home. This is where the Taj food and gifts came in very handy. Thankfully they have a wonderful staff, who were able to help me go down my ingredients list and find all the items I needed. Taj food and gifts is where I found asafetida, and dried fenugreek leaves, I found the garam masala at my local Kroger. The garam masala was there all the time I just never noticed it until I needed it, much like many of the plant based whole food items we use now. My photo includes cauliflower and peas masala, oil free falafel bites, 100% whole wheat naan, quinoa tabbouleh and Silk plain soy dairy-free yogurt alternative.

A few weeks ago I rediscovered an old Greek recipe book I had long stuck in the back of my shelf. A plethora of recipes handed down for generations, each needing only a small alteration to make them whole food plant-based. As a side note my first trip to Greece was with my grandparents many moons ago over spring break. The smells, the food, the rich history, the view of the Acropolis above the city, lit up against the night sky, and then to stand in its midst the following day. My first taste of the thick licorice liquor that I would come to learn is a Greek tradition, ouzo. In the midst of these memories I started off on my quest to find grape leaves in the midwest. After ventures to most of my local shopping marts turned up empty, I turned to Georges International Market. There I found what I was looking for, Krinos imported grape leaves in a jar. Each jar contains approximately 50-51 leaves according to the label, probably 10 more than I actually needed for this recipe. As you can see from my photo, I need to practice my wrapping skills as some of my filling decided to escape from my grape leaves. I’m sure it’s an acquired skill from lots of practice…I’ll keep trying. We enjoyed these with my previous post, zucchini humus.

WFPB Stuffed Grape Leaves

Grape Leaves – layer grape leaves on the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking or burning. (preferably the broken ones). To fill, lay leaf flat with vein side up, place filling by stem end (stem removed), fold bottom edge up, fold sides in, roll to tip, place in pan seam side down.

Ingredients

1 jar grape leaves, rinsed well

1 1/2 cups brown rice (uncooked)

1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 medium mushroom, finely diced

1 cup mushrooms, finely diced

2 Tbsp. tomato paste

2 Tbsp. fresh mint, chopped finely

2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped finely

1 Tbsp. dill

1 lemon juiced and zest and 1 lemon sliced

2 cups vegetable stock + for sautéing

salt and pepper to taste

water

Directions

Drain the grape leaves, soak them in hot water for a few minutes and then put them in cold water for 5 min, then rinse them well. Separate them and cut off the stems if needed. Allow them to drain in a colander while you make the filling.

Pulse the garbanzo beans in a food processor until you get a crumbly texture without any whole beans. Set aside.

In a large skillet, sauté onions and mushrooms in vegetable stock for 2-3 minutes until the onions become translucent. Then add the brown rice and toss with a bit more stock to coat.

Add the tomato paste, garbanzo beans, and the vegetable stock and mix in. Cover the pan and cook until the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes.

While on a frequent business trip my husband picked up a vegan cookbook for us. It is packed full of vegan recipes from many different restaurants around the world. Although each recipe needs a slight tweaking to be whole food, plant-based, no oil. This past weekend we tried out our version of zucchini hummus and it was wonderful. We made some veggie stuffed grape leaves and used this hummus as a dip, it was fantastic. We also tried some with our favorite original flavor Mary’s gone crackers, as you can see in the photo.

Lentils are mentioned in the Bible in Genesis, in the story of Esau who gave up his birthright for a dish of lentils. (Genesis 25:30-34)

We were enjoying a lovely lunch the other day at Chick P in Brooklyn, when I happened to remember a Greek cookbook a friend gave me years ago. The falafel deluxe sandwich was incredible as was the lentil soup. I couldn’t wait to get home and see what kind of plant-based treasures from Greek grandmas I could discover in that long forgotten book. I was not disappointed, there are lots of recipes I plan on trying. The first to get a little WFPB makeover was this Barley and Lentil Soup. I made it for just my husband and I and it has taken us a week to eat it all, so it really does serve 8.

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My name is Renae Long, I'm a wife and a mother of three boys. February 29, 2016, my husband Jerry suffered a massive heart attack. His cardiologist told us we needed to change the way we eat, in order to reverse his heart disease. Over the next two weeks we made some big changes, tossing everything we had been taught about food out the window. Follow me as we take on the challenge of a whole food plant based lifestyle and learn how great a body can be! HeartHealthy TheHeartieKitchen ❤️ur❤️